Recognising and Supporting Schemas in Early Years Settings
Understanding how children learn and explore their environment is key to early years education. One important concept that helps us make sense of children’s play is the idea of ‘schemas’. If you’re new to the term, it might sound a bit technical, but schemas are simply repeated patterns of behaviour that children use to learn about the world around them.
What are schemas?
Schemas have been researched extensively over the years and are observed as behaviours that children repeat over and over again until they have mastered a particular skill or understanding. For example, a child might repeatedly drop objects from a high chair, not to be destructive, but to understand the gravity and cause-and-effect relationships. This repetitive action is a schema, and it’s a natural part of their development.
As children grow, the number of schemas they engage in can increase in both number and complexity. These patterns aren’t just confined to early childhood—they can continue into adulthood. For instance, if you enjoyed lining up your toys neatly as a child, you might find that you still prefer a tidy desk or have specific routines that you follow as an adult. These adult behaviours can be traced back to the schemas you explored in your early years.
Recognising schemas in play
It’s important to recognise that children don’t always play with toys as we might expect, and that’s perfectly okay. Often, this behaviour is a sign that they’re exploring a schema. For example, a child might be more focused on spinning the wheels of a toy car rather than pushing it along the floor. This could indicate that they’re engaging in a rotational schema, where circular movements capture their interest.
By observing these patterns in children’s play, you can identify schemas and use this insight to plan activities and manage resource rotation effectively.
Supporting schemas in early years settings
Recognising schemas in children’s play allows early years educators to better support their learning. By understanding the schema a child is exploring, you can provide activities and resources that align with their interests and developmental stage. For example, if a child is showing a trajectory schema, where they are interested in how things move through the air, you might introduce activities that involve throwing, kicking, or dropping objects safely.
Supporting schemas also means embracing the child’s natural curiosity, even when it doesn’t align with traditional uses of toys or materials. Instead of redirecting them to use the toy as intended, consider how you can extend their exploration. This not only helps the child to learn and grow but also promotes a positive and engaging learning environment.
Different kinds of schemas to look out for
Containment: Children exploring this schema enjoy filling containers with water, sand, or other materials. They may climb into boxes, engage in shape-sorting activities, and love putting toys and resources into bags, boxes, pockets, or baskets.
Enveloping: This schema involves wrapping up toys in fabric, covering themselves with blankets or clothing, painting their hands and bodies, or hiding inside things. These children are drawn to activities where they can cover or enclose objects or themselves.
Orientation: Children engaging in this schema might hang upside down, look through their legs, climb to get a better view, or enjoy being underneath things. They’re exploring different perspectives and spatial relationships.
Positioning: This schema is all about order. Children may place toys or resources in a line, sort and order them by colour, size, or shape, and prefer their food to be separate and not touching. They might also have a specific spot where they like to sit.
Rotational: Children drawn to rotational schemas love spinning wheels on toys, playing with spinning tops, or twirling around themselves. They also enjoy drawing circles during mark-making activities.
Trajectory: This schema is characterised by a fascination with movement in straight lines. Children may throw or drop toys, push objects in straight lines, climb, run, jump, and enjoy playing with running water.
Transformation: Children exploring this schema are interested in mixing and changing things. They love activities like mixing paint, baking and combining ingredients, pouring drinks into their food, or dressing up to transform their appearance.
Transporting: This schema is all about movement and carrying. Children might move toys from one place to another, enjoy pushing prams or trolleys, carry multiple items at once, and collect things as they go.
Connecting: Children interested in this schema enjoy building and assembling. They might play with LEGO, train tracks, and puzzles, tie or glue things together, and find satisfaction in constructing and then demolishing their creations.
Recognising and understanding schemas is key to supporting child-led play in early years settings. By identifying these natural patterns of behaviour, educators can create an environment that nurtures each child’s unique way of exploring and learning. Schemas allow children to follow their own interests and curiosities, leading to richer, more meaningful play experiences. When we embrace and support these developmental stages, we empower children to learn and grow in ways that feel natural and enjoyable to them.
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Content Marketing Executive at Connect Childcare